The NewWorld (Closed for AngelEyes1994)

[Aussie_Wolf]

It had taken him over six months flying at over Warp 8 to get here, but from the looks of things it looked like his hunch had payed off. From his place in Geo Synchronous orbit, Commander Rory Jacobs looked down at the planet below him. It was a little bigger than Earth Prime and the land mass was more than the ocean coverage, but other than that it was pretty much the same in the way Earth had looked thousands of years ago.

Most of the world was covered in dense forests, with the poles being frozen land masses, and a few desserts dotted over the places. Fresh water was abundant and large mountain ranges divided a few of the larger continents into regions. The probes he had sent down reported a breathable atmosphere and that the water was pure with no toxins. It was an ideal planet for the human race to expand to.

He placed a buoy in space marking his claim then set up things for his journey onto the surface. He packed his small shuttle craft with camping equipment, rifles, survival gear, and anything else he thought he might need plus his equipment for monitoring the atmospheric conditions. He would need actual proof and samples if his claim was to be ratified. He was smiling though. This was his big score. Finding a planet would set him up for life especially as he didn't have to share the royalties with anyone.

Climbing into the shuttle he eased her out of the bay and headed down to the surface. His mother ship would keep a close watch on him and would monitor all his readings. In the event of anything happening to him a drone would be dispatched to retrieve him and the shuttle would be retrieved.

The trip down was uneventful and he landed in a large clearing with a small lake at one end. For the next hour he set up his campsite and equipment then took some initial readings. All of them were promising and his excitement grew. He had to stay for one week to make sure they did not change, then he could report back. By the time he made it back home he would be a rich man.

he slung his rifle over his shoulder and decided to take a stroll. Moving down to the lake he saw fish swimming in the shallows and then he saw a game trail leading off into the trees. Deciding to see what sort of animals this planet had to offer he started to follow it quietly, seeing if he could sneak up on whatever had made it and perhaps even shoot it and see what game tasted like here.

Soon he was deep into the woods, but he could still see the trail and he was not worried about finding his way back. Advanced scouts were prepared for anything and he had trained hard. Still he was surprised at how still it was and quiet. maybe this world didn't have much in the way of bugs or bird life. He continued to follow the trail hoping to catch up with whatever had made it soon or he would have to turn back.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Lara was creeping through the forest, checking her traps, when she heard a sound like nothing she'd ever heard before in all of her life. She knelt down quickly and -- in a single, swift, skilled move -- ripped an arrow from the quiver on her back and notched it in her hand made, recurve bow. She scanned the forest before her, then spun around to look behind her. But the source of the sound eluded Lara.

The reason was simple: it came from the sky above her. It would never have occurred to Lara to look up. Nothing flew through the air here except leaves and dust. Nothing! The planet's flora had been evolving for a billion years, but the most evolved fauna were the fish and other swimmers in the streams, lakes, and seas all across the globe. Oh sure, there were some insects and other arthropods that could catch the breeze and travel through the air. But there wasn't a wing to be had on the entire planet.

Until now.

When Lara finally realized the direction into which the sound was disappearing, she rushed off down the well worn trail. She came to a bend in which an out of place, brightly colored flower grew trailside. She leaped high and long through the air, landing ten feet down the trail and continuing onward without missing a beat.

The sound had disappeared by now, but Lara felt confident that she was heading the right direction. Three kilometers later, after leaping over or skirting around a dozen more traps indicated by the transplanted Goro flower, Lara stopped quickly. Just a couple dozen steps ahead was a wide clearing. And on the far side of it was...

"Oh, Great Sun," Lara murmured to herself. Standing there and looking at the thing, she realized her heart was pounding. She might have thought the thumping in her chest was due to the long run. But it wasn't. She could have run twice that far at the same pace without ever needing to stop to rest or rehydrate. No, in addition to the accelerated heart rate, her entire body was trembling as well. It wasn't exertion. It was fear! She asked the unimaginable thing, "What are you?"

There was so much going on all at once that Lara was simply in awe. There was noise. There were lights. Their was exhaust ... smoke or steam or ... what? The huge thing reflected the light of the Great Sun like the surface of a stilled pond, almost blinding Lara at one point as she carefully crept along the edge of the forest to get closer.

Then, the most spectacular feature of the thing came into view. It was a ... a Human! Like her! Like Lara! She stopped dead in her tracks and watched. It was a male Human. But ... how could that be? Humans didn't have things like this. Did they? She was so confused. She couldn't decide whether he should have this thing because -- simply -- Lara didn't know what this thing was!



Lara had crouched in the forest for a long time, just watching the Human doing various tasks. Soon, he slung something that looked like a multi-part club over his back and headed off into the forest. Suddenly, Lara panicked. She backed into the trees, then pushed through the thick undergrowth until she reacquired the trail. She turned to head toward the Human, hurrying yet hardly making a sound, as was her nature.

She reached a specific point in the trail and stopped, hidden behind the massive fronds of a ground palm. Ironically, as curious as she was about the Human, Lara was hoping he wouldn't come this way. The dangers were so great for both of them, even though neither of them truly understood them. Maybe he would take a different trail...

He didn't.

Soon enough, Lara saw hints of the Human nearing on the trail. She was so well hidden, he probably would have walked right past her without ever knowing she was there. Except for one thing: the Goro flower near the trail.

Lara's heart was pounding again, and again it was from fear. She could have let the Human male step into the trap, of course. It wasn't like he was family ... or friend ... or neighbor. So ... she could just let him continue onward. Couldn't she?

No.

She couldn't.

When the Human male was just a few steps from the Goro, Lara rose up high enough to stand the bow upright, pull back the string, and let the notched arrow fly. It thunked into a tree trunk an arm's length from the Human male, causing him to flinch. By the time he turned and found Lara, she had another arrow notched ... this time aimed at his trunk.

She stared at him for a long moment. He didn't move, so Lara's intention of holding him in place seemed to be working. Without taking her eyes -- or the aimed arrow -- off the Human, Lara crept slowly out into the trail. She studied him from head to toe. He was dressed oddly. So many clothes. There was so little of him uncovered, unlike herself. She didn't know it, but her scant layers would have been considered erotic in the Human's culture. Here, in the heat of the tropical forest, though, her clothes were just ... normal. A combination of leather and fibers -- both animal and plant -- the oversized brassiere and shorts were all about function: her private parts were well protected from the sometimes harsh fronds and limbs of the forest, while most of her arms, legs, and midriff were exposed to keep her cool.

Again in the Human's culture, Lara's body would have been considered very much worth ogling. She was short and well rounded, in his measurements 34C-22-32 at 5'4". That didn't mean anything to her, of course. If he did let his gaze drop to her body, Lara wouldn't have thought twice about it, let alone feel either offended or complimented.

After a moment of staring at the Human, Lara lowered the aim of her arrow and released it. In a flash it hit the ground, or more specifically the snare trigger on the ground. From both sides of the trail, sharpened limbs slashed outward like teeth on a pair of giant combs. They interlaced amongst one another in a way that would have pierced the Human male's body in a dozen places.

Before the leaves and dust stirred up by the rush of air had cleared, Lara had vanished into the forest again. She circled out wide on a smaller trail, coming around to the Human's thing on the opposite side. She was hoping he would get the hint that the forest was too dangerous a place for a stranger to be wandering about.

And she hoped that she could watch him from the shadows and figure out just who and what he was.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory had been more than surprised when the woman had popped out of the jungle. In fact he had been stunned into place and had nearly voided his bowels. This planet was supposed to be devoid of all higher functioning lifeforms, and especially none that looked as hot as her.

It even took him a few seconds to register the fact that she was pointing an arrow directly at his chest. Of course this was bad. He had not been expecting any problems except environmental ones and so had no armor on. If she shot it could prove fatal.

He made no move towards the two sidearms he wore on his hips. He might have not been expecting trouble, but those things were just part of him. He never went anywhere without them and he was a crack shot. Still no matter how fast he was, he was never going to outdraw her before she loosed that arrow.

Then she adjusted her aim and shot at the path. A large crude, but effective trap was activated and he gulped as he realized he was but two steps away from being skewered by it. He turned to thank her but she had already disappeared. He stood in the middle of the path and began to try to work out this puzzle. She couldn't be the only humanoid on this planet as she had to have been born by someone and his scans had revealed no traces of a crashed vessel anywhere. If there was one family there was probably more but just how many more? The law was quite specific about what constituted an indigenous population. If their were too many he could kiss his rights and finders fee goodbye.

Still it wasn't all bad news. Finding a new race also came with it's own set of rewards, just nowhere near as much. He would have to do some investigating. He might get lucky and find out it was only a small population.

Smiling he moved forward and looked over the trap. It was a crude piece of work made of sharpened pieces of wood tied together with what looked like cured bit's of animal hide. Obviously whatever race was living here was not that advanced. Still for a crude trap it was very well made, and it had been very well concealed. He wondered how the woman had known it was there and looked around for signs but the only thing he could see was a large brightly colored flower. He had seen nothing like it yet so perhaps that was it. Shrugging he walked around the trap and continued up the path. He would keep his eyes out for any more of those flowers and avoid the trail around them, but he was determined to see where it led him and what traveled it. Plus maybe that woman would make another appearance. She had been a real beauty and he wouldn't mind talking and getting to know her a lot better.

Six months in space left a guy craving certain things and she had looked like she could definitely supply them. However he would have to go slow. Who knew what the traditions were on this planet or the mating rituals. He didn't want to end up dead for doing the wrong thing.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Lara was beginning to worry. The Great Sun was dropping behind the forested hills, and the Human Male hadn't returned yet. Despite saving him from the trap hours earlier in a way she was certain would turn him back to his Big Thing, she was certain he was now bleeding in yet another one of the dangerous snares.

She'd been hunting since well before dawn, and now her eyes were growing heavy. She needed sleep, but she certainly couldn't close her eyes here. She didn't know what the Human Male's capabilities were concerning finding her, now that he knew she was here. The Big Thing was something beyond her knowledge, so ... who knew what else the Human Male was capable of. Until she knew more about this incredible development in her life, she needed to be careful.

She backed away from the Big Thing to the trail, followed it deeper into the forest, then moved off into the undergrowth in near total silence, an arrow again notched in her bow.



Lara had slept deep in the woods until just before dawn, then crept back toward the Big Thing again. Her brain was filled with thoughts of the wonders she would find inside it as she pillaged it. She'd been certain that the Human Male was already being devoured by thousands of bugs, and yet when she reached the forest edge, there he was again.

She watched him for quite a while, studying his movements and the way he used the unknown gear he'd unloaded. Unlike his belief that he'd discovered an alien humanoid creature, Lara was sure the stranger was a Human. A special Human. But just a Human. After all, she didn't know anything about interstellar space travel. She was still certain that this Human Male had come from another part of the large planet, not another planet.

Despite her certainty that he was what he wasn't, Lara wasn't sure whether or not he was dangerous. Whether it was Earth -- of which, of course, Lara knew nothing -- or this planet, which she only called Home, there was one truth amongst most Humans: they feared what they did not understand.

Which made Lara's next move a very brave or very stupid one. She waited until he was turned away from her, then made her way carefully and quietly out of the forest toward the Big Thing. It was only seventy meters or so from cover, and she'd covered half of it before he caught sight of her. Again, she had a drawn arrow leveled at his chest. And again like the day before, he only watched her. Was he to afraid to move, fearful she'd kill him? Or was he remembering that she'd save him the day before?

This time, rather than just a step or two, though, she continued to move closer to the Human Male, gingerly stepping through the knee high grass and around the occasional basket sized Sweet Bushes, the arrow and her gaze never leaving him.

When she was just fifteen meters from him when she stopped, hesitated, then ever so slowly let the tension on the bow string lessen. She kept the arrow notched and held it in place with her right hand as she lifted her left hand slowly to her shoulder. She pulled a thin leather strap from her shoulder and held it out to her side. At the end of it was a gutted fish, the thong tied through one of its two mouths. She lowered the fish to the grass that had been beaten down by the Human Male's wanderings, then slowly backed ten yards.

When she was confident that he knew she wasn't going to kill him, she asked simply, "Human ... yah?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory had walked a long way up the path but had seen it had no end in sight, so he had turned around. It had been pretty late by the time he had made it back to his ship, the large sun having dipped below the horizon and the small sun being the only illumination.

He was surprised at how much light there still was. It was like being in a permanent dusk or sunrise without the pretty colors in the sky. It might take some getting used to, but people could fall asleep in it, and night workers would appreciate the extra light. All in all it could be a good thing.

He deactivated the security field around his ship and slipped inside. He had only set it to stun, but he noticed that nothing had been caught in it. It was a fluctuating field, meaning it increased in intensity for whatever approached it. A fly caught at the outer rim caught a mild dose. A human would feel a tickle but the field would intensify until they were stunned. A large creature would get the same treatment, the on board computer rapidly calculating the intensity needed.


Rory slept well, and after eating a good breakfast was outside checking his sensors when he felt himself being watched.he turned to find the woman from yesterday halfway across the clearing. Damn she was good. No one was normally able to sneak up on him like that yet she had done it twice. Again she had an arrow pointed straight at his heart so he made no sudden movements. Today however he had donned his armor and it could be activated at a moments notice, but he would leave that until he was sure he was in danger.

She walked up until she was still a fair distance away then relaxed a little and held out a fish as a peace offering, lowering it to the ground then backing off. He raised his hands then the most amazing thing happened, she spoke basic. He was dumbfounded and almost forgot to reply but then realized what she had actually asked and nodded.

"Yes I'm Human. Don't worry I promise I'm not here to hurt you. Would you care to join me for a meal?" he asked pointing to the fish.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

"Yes I'm Human. Don't worry I promise I'm not here to hurt you. Would you care to join me for a meal?"

Lara stared at the Human Male for a long moment, just as silent as she had been with the exception of that one moment of speaking to him. She spoke to him. And he responded. And she understood him. At least, to a degree.

Yes: that was yah, Lara believed. Human ... promise ... hurt you ... care ... join me: she understood those without question, but ... the words in between...? Yes, I'm Human: yah, I am Human. Lara didn't know what a contraction was, though it wasn't uncommon for her to slur words into one. She didn't read or write, so she'd never seen one written on paper ... or even seen paper, for that matter. She didn't know the word worry at all, but don't sounded very much like doh noht, so ... Lara decided -- hoped! -- the Human Male was saying I doh noht hurt you. She knew he was asking her to join him -- care join me -- and the gesture to the fish ... well that was a gimme.

"I care join you," she said, hoping she was answering him in the positive. To support her answer, Lara took hold of the flights of the arrow, lifted it over her back and slipped it back into the quiver. She knew that bending the bow to loosen and unhook the string was the ultimate in disarming herself -- and disarming the Human Male's concerns -- but Lara wasn't ready to go that far yet. She tilted the bow until it was horizontal, then -- with both hands -- set it in the partially beaten down grass before her, saying, "I doh noht hurt you."

She wanted to get nearer the Human Male again, but there was still so much uncertainty remaining in her mind. He was like her, but ... he was so much not like her, too. He might be harmless and friendly and benign ... or he might simply be waiting for the right moment to harm her ... beat her, rape her, kill her even. How could Lara justify simply moving in close with so many questions unanswered.

She looked about herself for a place to sit, to continue showing him her ease. Ten feet away was a mound of packed clay, looking similar to an Earth ant hill. She could tell by the lack of activity and the color of the old, unmaintained dirt that it was a dead colony. She moved slowly over to it and, just as slowly, pulled a machete-looking blade from a sheath on her back next to the quiver. Taking a power stance, she reared back with the blade, swung hard horizontally, and easy sliced off the top six inches or so. She sheathed the blade again, wiped her hand over the now flat top to shed some of the dust, and sat, facing the Human Male.

"Lara," she said after a moment, patting her hand to her chest. "Called Lara."

She smiled to him for the first time...

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory watched as she seemed to puzzle out his words. Okay so she spoke basic but it was likely to be a crude form. He was just going to have to be patient and speak very basically until they worked each other out. Maybe once they trusted each other he could get her on a language tutoring machine and give her a quick dose of Basic language skills. By the sound of it she wouldn't need much.

He watched as she carefully disarmed herself and then placed her bow on the ground. The she told him she would not harm him. Maybe she did not even know he was armed. From her point of view he was carrying nothing that looked like a weapon. He felt a little bad for that and he reached up and unhooked his belt and dropped his guns at his feet. She probably would wonder why he did that but it would be for the best later on.

He moved towards his fire pit as she walked over to a small mound of dirt and he watched as she made it into a crude chair with a swipe of a massive machete. Crude but effective. Still it was strange. For her to have a Blade that looked that good but crude looking tips on her arrows. She was a walking contradiction. Still who knew.

He reached down and quickly lit the fire with his laser lighter and soon had a cheery blaze going, then set about cleaning the fish. With deft strokes he gutted and cleaned it, then filleted it. He pressed a certain part of the ship and it opened up revealing a small kitchen area and he selected an outdoor grill and pan, several spices and soon had the fish grilling over the fire.

It was quickly ready and he transfered it to two plates and placed hers several steps towards her. He took a small chunk and ate it, then backed off and sat on his side of the fire in a chair he took out.

"Come, Eat," he told her smiling before gingerly eating his own.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

The Human Male hadn't returned Lara's introduction. Her first thought was that he hadn't understood: they had established that they were of the same species, but Lara had a suspicion that that was about all they had in common.

Just as he had taken notice of her seemingly primitive nature, Lara had noticed -- and become awed by -- his obviously advanced one. Whereas she would have had use a flint and steel to start a fire, he simply clicked a tool.

There was the Big Thing, of course. Lara had come to the conclusion that he had arrived here in it, but -- with no understanding of flying objects -- she was still confused about how it had gotten here without making tracks or causing damage in either the forest or field.

And concerning the Big Thing, there were other wonders. He had only to reach out and touch a surface to open a space and produce cooking items Lara had never before seen. She watched him with wide eyes, eventually standing to move a bit closer for a better look. He sprinkled herbs over the fish, causing a scent she'd never before drawn into her lungs.

And before her way of cooking would have caused the flesh to begin getting soft, he was already splitting it onto a pair of plates made of materials that, again, Lara was unfamiliar with.

So far, most of the encounter had involved things known only to the male. But when he picked off a chunk of the fish and popped it into his mouth, telling her to join him, it was Lara's knowledge that kicked in.

"Stop!" she said, leaping forward with her hands up in a sort of cease and desist gesture. It was obvious that he understood that word, though Lara wasn't sure whether or not it was her exclamation or her caution approach that was causing him to tense up. She repeated more softly, "Stop. Kill you will."

She moved up to the plate he'd laid out for her and turned the big chunk of fish over. All of the larger fish of this region -- and the entire planet, which was a fact unknown to Lara -- had two spinal columns that paralleled one another from the base of the skull to just past the entrails, where they combined into one. Her half of the fish had one of those spinal columns. She carefully pulled the entire spinal column up and away from the cooked carcass. Then, moving closer to him, she held the foot and a half long linkage of bones in both hands and bent it carefully. She wasn't trying to break it, but was trying to open gaps between the individual bones.

After a moment, something began wiggling near the junction of two vertebrae, and a moment later a worm began snaking its way out of the column. Lara watched the Human Male's reaction as the parasite -- ultimately revealing itself as being nearly the length of the section of spine -- slipped out and fell to the ground.

"Kill you will ... bone worm," Lara continued, smiling, pleased with being able to show the far more advanced Human something he couldn't possibly have known. She pulled off some of the meat that was stuck to her section of spine and stuffed it into her mouth. She nodded to his half of the fish, saying, "You do."

She was now closer to the Male than she had been thus far, and suddenly Lara felt a bit worried. But ... he didn't attack her ... beat her ... kill her ... rape her. So ... maybe he wasn't a threat...? Lara backed away a couple of steps, then -- for the first time -- turned her back on him, hoping she would live long enough to get to her fish. She did, and when she turned back to face him while eating, Lara was very pleased with the progression of their relationship.

Lara finished off her half of the fish far quicker than he did. Dinner etiquettewasn't exactly a priority, so she ate heartily until she'd had her fill, then tossed the rest of the fish a dozen yards away into the grass. She returned to the mound she'd decapitated, took up a chunk of it, and returned to stand just two yards from the Human Male. She broke the chunk into two, tossed one to him, then crumbled her half in her hands until it was little more than dust.

"Clean," she said, smoothing the dust all over her hands. She didn't know that the proper word was disinfect, of course, but she hoped he would understand. She clapped her hands together, laughing as she sent off a cloud of the thin, brown dust. She'd enjoyed that since she was a little girl, and the presence of this unknown Human didn't lessen her joy. She showed him the front and back of her hands, then sniffed at them conspicuously as she repeated, "Clean."

Unknown.

He was unknown.

Lara wanted answers about where this Human Male had come.

She found a shrub that was growing isolated from the others and pulled it from the ground, tossing it aside. Smoothing the dirt, she now had a meter wide plot of dirt in which she could draw. As she traced her fingers through the dirt, Lara pointed to features in the surrounding landscape, to ensure that he understood she was mapping out their location. The map that resulted was of the almost continent-sized, kidney bean-shaped island on which they were now.

"We here," she said, scratching an "X" in the dirt identifying their location as being a bit to the east and north of center. She pointed to the Human Male, pointed to the four directions of the wind, then asked, "You from where?"

Lara knew he wasn't from this island. That was a gimme. But she could never have imagined the answer he was to give ... if he gave one at all.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory was shocked but grateful when she had saved him from the worm that had been buried in the fish. Obviously it was something that was only found on this planet as he had never seen it before or even heard of it and he was glad that she had been there to show it to him. He might not have died from it given the advanced medical facilities on his ship, but he had no doubt he would have suffered a great deal.

He knew also she had not tried to poison him in any way. Obviously this worm was something that had to be taken out when you cleaned the fish. Because he was unaware of it he had failed to do so, and she was so overawed at the situation she had probably not noticed until the last second. He had been extremely lucky.

He watched as she cleaned her hands and laughed at her delight in the simple procedure. Well when in Rome as they still said. He broke the chunk of dirt apart in his hands and rub it all over them,clapping away the dust just as she had. He had to admit it did take away all the juices of the fish and his hands did feel surprisingly clean.

He watched her rip up the plant and walked over a little way towards her, still keeping a comfortable distance away. He didn't want to spook her. She was drawing something and when she drew an X he realized what. It was a crude map and she confirmed it with her words. Then she asked him where he was from.

That was going to be tough to explain. How was he to tell her he was from space? Would she even believe him? Well only one way to find out. He was going to try when he remembered he hadn't even told her his name. How stupid could he be. That should have been his first words to her. Well he would try to rectify that.

He pointed at her and said "Lara from here," and he gestured around at the forest and the ground. Then he pointed at himself. "Rory from up there," and he pointed to the sky. He was pointing at space but he was not sure if she would get it, but for now it was the best he could do.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Lara followed Rory's gesture toward the sky, looking up into the clear blue sky for a long moment. She looked back to him with an obvious expression of confusion. It made no sense whatsoever. Nothing came from the sky except rain or the occasional raining of leaves, dust, and debris returning to the ground after being picked up by dust devils over the land or water spouts over the lakes and ocean.

She had no basis for even imagining that what Rory was telling her was real. Even her spiritual beliefs put her terrestrial based Goddesses on the ground and in the water, not up in the sky.

Lara questioned Rory's statement, and the conversation went back and forth between them. For every answer he gave her, she had another question. If she hadn't been so amazed with what he had to tell her, she would have remembered the many back and forth interactions she'd had with her mother as a young girl, discussions that featured the words what, why, when, and how until her distraught mother would finally just say Nuff!

"So ... space ship..." she summarized, pointing to the Big Thing before pointing to Rory, then the sky, then laying a flat hand on the ground, "bring you from other Home ... your Home ... a ... a plan-et...? Bring you my Home ... my plan-et."

He confirmed Lara's realization, which was hard for her to believe. But he was insistent, and Lara couldn't imagine why he would make up something like this. And there was so much evidence to back his story up, from the Big Thing -- this space ship -- to the advanced technology to the things he explained were weapons and, at her insistence, demonstrated to her amazement.

All of this led to the most important question Lara would ask Rory. "Why? Why you come my Home?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

This was a question he had hoped she would not ask, but as they had talked he had been sure she would. She might seem simple but she had a very bright mind that grasped the advanced concepts he was trying to explain to her. The problem was how was he going to explain his mission? She might be bright, but this would probably be way beyond her. Especially seeing as how it looked like his mission was looking like it was now a dud.

"I come your Home to find New Home for people from my Home," he tried to explain. "My Planet has too many people, It needs new homes for them. I look for them. I thought this place have no people so would be good."

He didn't tell her that if there were not enough people on it, the people in charge might decide to settle on the planet anyway. She wouldn't understand that or the complexities behind it. Besides he would have a lot of say in the matter, and he would do the investigating.

"Lara here alone," he asked pointing to her map. He knew it was not likely unless her parents had been killed off, but even then he suspected there were other people, but he wanted her to confirm it. "If no, where others," he said pointing all around them.

He didn't really want to meet them yet, he was enjoying talking with this ravishing looking woman. It was just that it would be a good idea to know if anyone else was going to be popping by to say hello and from what direction they might come.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

"I come your Home to find New Home for people from my Home..."

Lara understood Rory's explanation. And while civilization after civilization across the Earth of which she knew nothing had more often than not gotten the short end of the stick when it came to the arrival of outsiders, Lara wasn't concerned about more Rories coming to Home. In fact, it might be a good thing for her and her people.

"Lara here alone," he asked. "If no, where others?"

Lara did, however, hesitate before pointing toward her Tribe's location. She herself was quickly accepting Rory's presence, but would the others? The last time they'd had to deal with outsiders was tragic. They might not take to Rory as quickly as Lara had, despite his being Human like them.

She glanced to Rory's belt of weapons, which he'd donned to demonstrate them to her earlier. "I tell you where villa is ... and you and Rories help us beat Toads?"

Lara didn't think Rory knew about the Toads. He hadn't expected to find Humans here on Home, so why would he have expected to find the alien race that her kind had been battling with for the extent of their existence on Home?

"Fight us for control of our villas," she explained, still not having explained what they were. "They kill us ... steal ... burn. Mean."

She could see and, in his questions, hear Rory's confusion or disbelief in what Lara was trying to tell him. She moved back to the space of open dirt where she'd drawn the map, smoothed out the dirt, and began drawing. Lara was a very good artist, a talent which was less appreciated in her culture than it might have been in Rory's, so the drawing was actually very detailed, particularly since it was being done in dirt with an extended finger.

The result was a semi-humanoid looking creature with reptilian features. In the drawing, it stood on two feet. With a tail that was as long as the remainder of it body, its weight was balanced forward. Though she knew nothing of Earth's Tyrannosaurus rex, Lara's drawing looked almost like one, except that it was sleeker and had long, functioning forearms and fingered hands that would be as useful as a Human's own.

Lara stood and lifted an arm, leveling her hand an additional head's height above her height of 170 centimeters. She told him, "That big."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

So some other species had already found this place and was attempting to kill off the natives. Rory looked at the picture Lara drew and was impressed. Damn she was a great artist. Give her modern day tools and she could really make a name for herself if this was what she could do with a finger and dirt.

Still as he studied the picture he got a bad feeling and then he knew what she was drawing. A Draconian. They were well known in Galactic circles as being ruthless beings once they had set their sights on something. Luckily they were not very advanced in the weapons department. In fact they had only became a spacefaring race because another race had crash landed on their home world and had been captured and forced to reveal the secrets of their spacecraft.

The Draconians were a warrior like race that preferred direct combat. They liked to see the fear and desperation in their opponents eyes. Unfortunately for them, most of the Galaxies already established races already had weapons that could defeat such a race easily. It was no wonder then that they were out here at the edge of nowhere trying to find new worlds to conquer.

The problem was if he called in anyone else to beat the Draconian's, they could immediately place this world under their protection and move in. He was pretty sure Lara wouldn't want that either. It would just be an invasion of another sort, and once again her people would loose out.

He had to find out just how many Lizards she was actually fighting. Maybe he could actually fight them off. After all, they would not be expecting his kind of weaponry, and especially not the firepower his ship had. He grinned at that thought. No one expected the firepower his ship had.

Looking at Lara he nodded his head. "Lara take Rory to Villas. Rory see how bad it is then see how he can help. Rory help Lara."

Damn he was going to have to convince her to get in that machine soon. Talking like this was becoming a pain. He packed up his things and then looked at her signalling they should go. As she started out he mumbled a phrase into the small concealed throat mike he wore and behind him his ship faded from view and went into security mode.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Lara barely had to contemplated the idea of taking Rory to her villa. She had already developed an unexplainably quick trust in the outsider. She retrieved her bow and quiver from where she'd disarmed herself of it, then turned...

...to see the space ship disappear before her eyes, which -- like her mouth -- opened wide in shock. She moved toward where it had been, only to be stopped by Rory with what was obviously concern for her safety. She arced around it, amazed, asking questions and getting answers ... and, of course, not understanding a bit of them. She looked at the forest and field beyond the space ship through the space ship.

"There...?" Lara asked in awe, "or ... not?"

She recalled stories from her mother about the Gods and how they were and weren't there at the same time. Lara couldn't help but wonder whether the Gods were helping Rory. Or ... was Rory a God?

No. He'd said he was a Human. And besides, Lara had never seen a God in the flesh, so ... enough of that.

"Come," she repeated again, gesturing and heading off toward the forest...



If this had been Earth and Springtime, you might have though Lara was leading Rory on an arboretum nature hike. No sooner were they in the forest than she started talking and pointing and picking and sniffing and -- when dangerous plants and animals were near -- warning. She was so excited about showing the advanced Human things she was sure he didn't know that Lara failed to notice that she was sometimes overloading him with information and other times only giving bits and pieces of information on very complex issues.



They were on the trail for hours when Lara brought them to a stop in a small clearing. She studied her surroundings, then turned to Rory and said, "Sleep here."

Without waiting for a response from Rory, Lara shed her bow, quiver, and small pack. She was rambling on about what was involved in sleeping in the woods, not really paying attention to whether her traveling partner was understanding or not. She disappeared into the underbrush, talking from the darkness about keeping warm and repelling insects and more, when there was an odd ripping like sound. Lara emerged with what looked like a shag rug. In reality, it was a layer of moss-like grass that grew around the trunk of a specific tree. She'd sliced it from the tree, and laying it on the ground at Rory's feet, she began talking again at a rapid pace ... while she began stripping to her bare skin!

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory would have smiled the whole time lara led him through the forest except for one thing, She set a fast pace. He was amazed that she could talk so much and still move so fast, and yet he knew that this was nowhere near her top speed. In fact he was pretty sure she was going slow for his benefit.

He was actually no slouch and was having no trouble keeping up, but he would never have been able to keep up the tirade of information she was feeding him. He had to admit she was pretty unencumbered, basically carrying only her Bow and arrows and Knife that he could see. He on the other hand had grabbed a basic survival pack, a modified Las rifle, and his twin pistols. Nothing too heavy or cumbersome but he was certainly carrying more than her.

He did learn a lot during their travels, although he had a feeling he learned a lot about some things that were not important, and not enough about a few things that were. Still it was all fascinating and would save a lot of time later on. Most of what he was learning had to be learned through trial and error, or laboratory tests. this information was priceless to a scout.

When they finally came to a place she declared their campsite he sprawled on the ground first. He was exhausted while she appeared fresh as a daisy. As she wandered off explaining the dangers of camping, he just smiled keeping one ear out. He was already unpacking his tent and was just about to activate it when she came back with a large rug. Where the hell had she got a rug out here? As she got closer though he saw that it was a grass like substance. She placed it at his feet and he noticed that her bow and a small pack were there too.

Suddenly she started to strip, and with the amount of clothes she had on it did not take long before he was seeing things a stranger should not see. Well obviously her culture had no problems with nudity, he thought. Smiling he decided to take advantage and openly looked at her naked body.

She was spectacular. With the lifestyle she lived there was not an ounce of fat on her anywhere and her body was trim, taught and well muscled. Still not wanting to appear rude he began to strip off, but at the same time activated his tent. By the time he was naked the small bag had auto unpacked into a decent sized two person tent, set itself up, and bored self driving stakes into the ground that would hold it in place even in the harshest conditions.

His pack also contains provisions, a sleeping bag, mattress, a light source and other emergency needs, but he thought it safer to leave it at the tent for now. He gestured at the grass then the tent. "We sleep inside. Protect us from bugs and keep warm."

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Standing before Rory in what had long ago been called a birthday suit, Lara looked over the tent with yet more amazement. She smiled to the man, then walked fully around it not once by twice. She leaned to look in through its opening, flashing her bare ass and ... yeah, and that right at the man standing behind her without any apparent concern.

"Tent...?" she asked, repeating the word Rory had used to describe the enclosure. "Inside...? Sleep inside?"

She headed inside to look about. It was tall enough for her to stand upright with almost enough room to extend her hands straight upwards. She giggled touching the sides. They weren't heavy and thick like the plant fiber weaves her family used for clothes, sacks, and such. Her mother was going to be shocked at this.

"Sleep inside!" Lara said excitedly, heading out to gather her tree carpet and drag it in. It left debris all about the floor, but Lara didn't seem to show any concern. She went outside again for her other things and hurried back in to lay down. She looked up to Rory with a wide smile, patted the upwards facing, soft, grassy side of the rug, and said, "Sleep."

Lara wriggled her body into the grass to excite the tiny bugs living within it. They would spend the night eating from the two humans all of the tiny and even microscopic parasites that were hitch hiking on the Humans' bodies.

But before Rory joined her, she waggled her fingers at the remainder of his clothes, saying casually, "All off."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory was having a bit of a problem. Sure she might not have any problems with nudity, but he did. After six months of no female company and not expecting any for at least another eight, he was not prepared for the sight of a gorgeous, naked woman to lean over so casually in front of him, exposing all her private areas to him. Oh and exposed they were, for as far as he could see there was not a hint of hair on her body below her neck. Not on her arms, not on her legs and certainly not around her sex.

Of course this was all well and good when he stripped off to his boxers and placed his things in the tent with hers, but when she insisted he get fully naked like her he blushed and balked. The truth was he was as rigid as a steel pole and he was not sure how she would take that. Obviously he knew that what she was doing was not a come on, or an invitation for sex. The problem was his lower extremity did not know that.

Sighing he took his boxers off and placed them with the rest of his clothes, and trying to keep his back facing her he laid down on the grassy rug. Looking down at his 7 inches he began muttering beneath his breath, "Just go down, you are not getting any tonight or some any time soon for that manner."

 

[AngelEyes1994]

Lara studied Rory as he stripped down, noting that he was keeping his back to her. She tried to contain her smile but failed miserably once he'd turned to face her. Men. They were at such a disadvantage to women when it came to hiding their instinctual desires. He moved to lay on the grassy mat without showing his front side, but it was useless. Lara caught two or three good looks at his penis, finding it rock hard ... for her, obviously.

She felt kind of bad, actually. The outsider couldn't know that he wasn't going to have intercourse with Lara, despite her nudity and offer to lay with him. That made for keeping his penis at bay an impossibility.

After Rory laid down beside Lara, she reached to the edge of the grass carpet and pulled it over first her body, then -- maneuvering Rory to his side away from her -- spooned him from behind and pulled it over him. She snuggled up tight against him, whispering, "Cold at dark. Keep warm."

She pulled her bundled up clothes under her neck to support it, then wrapped her upper arm around Rory's torso. Pressing her hand against his fit chest, she pulled his back side to her breasts, his buttocks to her groin and hips.

"Warm," she said casually, not at all bothered by the fact that she was spooning a man from another planet who she'd only met that day. "Sleep now. Long walk 'morrow."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory groaned as he felt her naked body slide up behind him. He had no thoughts as to trying to take advantage of the situation, but it was killing him at the same time. To have a good looking woman such as her, literally pressing her naked body into his and not being able to do anything about it was bordering on torture.

Sighing he grabbed his clothes and made a pillow and resigned himself to the fact he was going to be sleeping with a permanent erection.He made sure his guns were in easy reach then sighing he tried to make himself comfortable.

Closing his eyes he tried to forget about his situation and allow his tiredness to take over. Within ten minutes, he was breathing deeply and evenly in sleep.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

The peacefulness of a forest without scurrying mammals and squawking birds must have been comforting for Rory, because he slept through the entire night, awaking only after Lara -- who had been awake since before dawn -- reached out with a long blade of grass and tickled the bottom of his foot. She was smiling broadly at him when he cleared his eyes and focused on her in the now open door of the tent, fully dressed and sitting with her heels on her haunches.

"Burning daylight," she said, one of the many proverbs from his Earth that had survived the centuries since her people had called it theirs. She glanced down at his naked body -- now uncovered to encourage at least the top layer's critters to abandon their cleaning of him -- and smirked at the semi-stiffened erection it was once again sporting. She looked back to Rory's face and said cryptically, "Soon."

She stood with her bow in her hands the rest of her gear on her body in all the right places and, gesturing to the tent, commanded, "Put away. I return soon. Stay here!"

She turned and was gone...



...and the next time Rory saw Lara was almost an hour later. She was standing at the edge of the clearing, looking directly at him with a finger pressed to her lips in a gesture that even here meant shhhh. With yet another familiar gesture, Lara curled a finger for him to follow, whispering, "Quiet."

She led him through the forest, not on the trail this time but through the thickets, always keeping them hidden from anyone or anything more than a few paces from them. She kept checking the ground, occasionally moving limbs or leaves.

After more than two hours and less than two hundred meters of travel, she turned to look at Rory with wide eyes. She only whispered, "Toads."

She moved to a thick bush and, gingerly, pulled back a limb to show him what was beyond: six Draconians, as he would call them, huddled around a fire pit. On a spit over the smokey, flameless fire was one of Home's largest animals, a two meter long fish with fore legs and rear fins. With a metal bar stuck through its length, it had been slowly roasting over the heat for possibly two days.

Lara looked back to Rory. Her eyes were filled with obvious fear...

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory had awoken and was surprised to find the sun up. Normally his internal alarm clock would have awoken him earlier, but maybe it was still getting used to this planets rotational speed, or perhaps it had been something else.

He looked at the fully clothed woman and smiled, but she just ordered him to clean up the place and disappeared into the woods. Sighing he got dressed, pulled the grass mat out and replaced it in the woods and then hit the hidden switch on the tent.

It self cleaned then packed itself up and he picked up the now small package and stored it in his backpack. Moving to the edge of the woods where she had disappeared he sat down with his back against a tree and a protein bar and waited.

When she returned and he followed her he knew something was up. Rory pulled his Rifle out and carried it easily as they moved slowly, and he began to see traces of a trail.

Eventually they stopped and he could smell the aroma's of something cooking. It smelled good but the way she was moving these were not friendly people that would welcome guests. Indeed when she pulled back a branch carefully he caught sight of six Draconians. Damn, so it was true. Still these guys seemed a little different.

Not one of them had any technology on them at all. That was going to the extreme even for these guys. They all carried weapons, but they were from the same era as Lara's. Heck from this distance he could probably take all of them out no problems as long as they weren't shielded.

He looked at Lara then pointed to the lizards. "You want to kill? I do easy, unless you see them shine before."

he then went on to try to explain what a shield was to her and he thought he had got his point across. "So leave them or kill?" he asked.

 

[AngelEyes1994]

"You want to kill?" Rory asked.

Deep inside, Lara wanted nothing more than to kill each and every Toad on the planet. She didn't know why the reptilian humanoids disliked Humans so badly. They -- the Humans -- had never done anything to the only other intelligent, advanced resident of Home. The only thing her people had ever done to the Toads was run them off when they encroached on the Villa's frontier.

"I do easy," Rory continued, "unless you see them shine before."

She didn't understand shine at all. Even after Rory tried to explain the concept of personal and localized shielding Lara still wore a confused look on her face. Maybe if the Toads had had such technology, Lara might have put two and two together to get and unbelievable four, but they didn't, so she didn't.

He asked, "So leave them or kill?"

Lara answered him by slowly letting the limb return to its natural position, then creeping away with Rory close behind her once again. They traveled for two hours in near silence before they came across a narrow trail that looked as if no one had been on it in months if not years. Another hour of quicker but still silent travel brought them to an even more worn trail, where Lara finally brought them to a stop.

"Sit," she said, pointing to tree that had toppled years or possibly decades ago. "I will get food."

She disappeared into the brush yet again, but it was only a few minutes before she returned with a purple melon that Rory might have thought was a cucumber or zucchini if it hadn't been bright red with inch long yellow spikes running down its length in six rows.

"Pokie melon," she told him, pulling out her machete and, with a chop down the melon's length, hacked it easily open. It was filled with juicy meat, large flat seeds ... and worms. Without hesitation, Lara snatched up one of the thin, four inch long wrigglers and tossed it into her mouth, swallowing it without chewing. She smiled to Rory, saying, "Mmmm..."



They spent almost two hours there on the trail, eating and talking. Lara asked Rory to explain more of his technology, finding herself confused often but amazed always. She also asked about Earth, as he had called his Home planet.

"Did I come from there?" she asked. "Did my mother come from Earth?"

Lara hadn't quite accepted that Rory had indeed come from a different planet. One thought that had been bouncing about inside her little head was that Rory only thought he'd come from another world but had actually just flown -- a word to which he'd introduced her -- from one island to hers. But his explanation now was simply too ... well, despite still seeming outrageous, it was too confident. He believed every thing he was saying. And Lara was beginning to trust every word Rory told him.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory was surprised when Lara had led him away from the Draconians but it was her decision and he abided by it. He followed her again, still marveling at the way she moved so silently. He was no slouch, but even following in her exact footsteps he still made more noise than her. She didn't complain though so maybe he wasn't making too much.

By the time they stopped he was getting a little tired but he could have kept going. he was getting his land legs now, but she told him to sit on a tree and he obeyed. this was her land after all. She returned with a fruit/vegetable, he wasn't sure but it looked like nothing he had ever seen before, but she promptly chopped it in half. Inside was a rich looking meat, some seeds and worms. He recoiled more in surprise than disgust and watched as she quickly ate one. Well when in Rome and all.

He snatched one up and swallowed it down. MMMM actually that wasn't bad. They shared the remaining worms and then ate the fruit while she quizzed him on his ship, guns, shields, everything she had seen actually, and everything he had on him. he saw that she did not get a lot of the stuff he was saying no matter how hard he tried but she urged him on.

She also asked him about Earth and he tried to answer honestly even when it sounded incredible. he described how it used to look like her planet but how humans had grown too much and destroyed a lot of it before realizing the damage they had done and tried to fix it. They had succeeded but now there were just too many of them so they needed new homes. That's what he did.

He tried to describe skyscrapers and flying cars. Shopping centers, and sports. Places that sold food, and machines that made it. It was almost impossible to a person that lived their lives hunting and gathering to imagine though.

Then she asked a big question. Were they from Earth? He had been puzzling about that himself. Lara was too much like a human to not be. He had not seen a single animal she could have evolved from nor had he seen something as advanced on the evolutionary scale. Of course it could have been like Earth and the Dinosaurs and there could be fossil records, but he just had a hunch. The language was a giveaway too.

"I think maybe yes. Your mother no. Her mother no. Maybe her mother, or her mother were from Earth though. Not too long ago anyway. How I don't know. Maybe when Lara take Rory to Villa Rory find out."

 

[AngelEyes1994]

"Maybe when Lara take Rory to Villa Rory find out."

She stared at the man for a long moment, then smiled broadly. She stood and offered out a hand. "Come. We go."

After he was on his feet and all their gear was again gathered, she headed them up the trail again...

...but not for long.

Less than two minutes later they broke out of the thick undergrowth ... and there below them in a wide valley was Lara's villa. It almost looked abandoned, but that was only because the late afternoon heat had driven nearly everyone either into their huts to rest and do indoor chores or into the shady jungle to forage food.

"Home," Lara said, pointing unnecessarily out at the thirty-plus buildings as if Rory might have missed it. She reached to her quiver and pulled out an arrow. She pointed to the flights, which were an entirely different color than the rest poking up out of quiver. "Whistle."

She notched the arrow, pulled back the string, aimed toward a huge, fallen tree, and let the arrow fly. No sooner had it left the bow than it begin emitting a low pitched whistle that seemed to echo over the village and back. The arrow hit the tree ... and a moment later a young man who'd been sleeping atop it unseen in a rotting crevice leaped up with a surprised and somewhat embarrassed expression on his face.

"Yuni," Lara said pointing at the young man, "sleeping on watch."

Yuni was almost 100 meters from the pair, yet the surprise on his face at the sight of the stranger was all to obvious. He leaped off the log and ran for the huts, hollering for attention. Soon men, women, and children appeared from just about every building. In less than a minute, as Lara headed slowly down the trail and gestured Rory to follow her, half of the village's 100 residents were staring at the approaching pair.

"Dohn worry," she said, hoping he understood she was referring to the abundance of weapons that were becoming more obvious as they neared. She laughed. "Dohn kill you first. Second maybe. Not first."

She laughed again, then ran ahead of Rory to throw her arms around an older woman who had moved closer than anyone else. They chatted for a moment, as all about Rory the other villagers -- the ones with weapons in particular -- began to slowly encircle the three. Lara turned and urged forward the woman, who looked all kinds of nervous.

"My mother," she introduced simply, gesturing to the woman who was staring at the stranger with wide eyes. Lara moved over to stand next to the outsider, even taking his left hand in hers and grasping the inside of that elbow with her other hand. If it had been 20th century Earth, you might have thought Lara was introducing her new boyfriend to her parents. "Rory. From outside space."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Rory had been a bit nervous as he had seen how many people had been carrying weapons, but he trusted Lara and kept his hands away from his own. When she ran up to the woman he smiled immediately seeing the resemblance between them. Obviously this was her mother. Maybe she had some position of authority in the village as she had been leading the people, but then again maybe it was just because it had been Lara leading Rory in.

He waited looking around at the people surrounding him, until she returned leading the woman. She came back and grabbed his arm and he looked at her in surprise before looking back at the lady. She introduced her as her Mother as he had suspected and he saw her eyes widen as he was introduced as being from 'outside space'.

Smiling he bowed a little and looked at the woman. "Happy meet you. Lara say nice things about you. No need be Nervous, Lara have me well trained," he laughed a little.